Grace Of Equivalence
by Zefie Kirasagi
Summary: Sequel to Warmth of Ice and Passion of Flame. When an overload of mana leaves Genis almost dead, a last race begins to save the young mage from a frozen fate. But can a weak icicle ever master a raging inferno? R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys. I'm really sorry for such a long wait on this story, between a lack of plot bunnies, a new job (not my choice) and school restarting, writing time has been down and out. But finally, without further ado, let the final story in the trilogy begin!

Disclaimer: I don't own Genis, Presea, Celcius, or anything having to do with Symphonia. Thanks.

GRACE OF EQUIVALENCE

BY ZEFIE KIRASAGI

Chapter 1-Reason

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Presea moved the damp cloth on Genis' forehead, feeling quite helpless as the half-elf mumbled in his sleep. Raine had tried every spell she knew, but she was at a loss to explain Genis' sudden cold-fever. His body temperature had dropped to ninety-three degrees; by all rights, that should have killed him.

Perhaps it would yet.

Sheena was as much at a loss as the rest of them-she hadn't seen anything like this during her time controlling the summon spirits. Kratos was also at a loss, although he believed it had something to do with Genis' elven heritage. The others had reverted somewhat to the way they had been when Genis and Presea had been missing in Flanoiria. It seemed to be one thing after another.

Genis mumbled again in his sleep.

"…cius….elsee…"

While it had only been a day since Genis had fallen ill, he had been mumbling various syllables at intervals, as though trying to speak but unable. Presea pulled a piece of paper she had been writing on to her, writing down the syllables-she was the only one in the group who believed that they weren't just random mumbling.

"See-elsee…ius…"

Presea stared at the paper, something clicking in her head.

"Elsee-cius…Sell…Sellsee…Selseeas…" The girl gasped.

"Celcius!"

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"Mmm…I hope it did not take too much of his remaining mana to pull me from him."

Celcius cricked her neck as she looked over her pact-master, looking around at the rest of the room where the small group of Raine, Sheena and Presea and the unconscious Genis were situated. After Presea had determined what Genis was trying to say, she had quickly called in Raine and Sheena, explaining. Sheena had, with Raine's assistance, transfused enough power to Genis for him to wake up just long enough to summon Celcius, after which he had quickly fallen back into his sleep-albeit, without the mumbling now.

Presea looked up at Celcius. "So, why would Genis feel the need to summon you? And what's happening to him?"

Celcius sighed. "It's mostly my fault for not saying anything about it before we made the pact-I didn't think about it because neither Mithos Yggdrasil, nor Sheena Fujibyashi, suffered from it." The summon spirit paused, then looked around the room.

"It's actually very simple. Genis is suffering from an overabundance of ice mana. Normally, this would not be a problem for someone who could summon, and here's why: many old summoners did not have any elemental mana in their body prior to making a pact. But since Genis can cast spells, he has many different manas in him, which are supposed to each be kept balanced."

Raine spoke up here. "But why did it happen now? There's been times when any mana Genis had wouldn't be balanced-back before the journey, he only knew a fire spell, so wouldn't it have been unbalanced then?"

"No, that's not how it works." Celcius answered. "Genis would have had fire mana, and only fire mana, so there would be no imbalance. Once he learned an ice spell, he would gain ice mana, and a balance would be required _and _met. It would be the same for any other mana combination-wind and earth, lightning and water, light and dark-none of it would be imbalanced until the balancing force existed within him.

Think of it like a straight line on a data graph. For that first line, you need one set of information for the graph. Now, if you want a second graphed line with different information to lay directly on top of the first line, you have to make the information for the second line the same as the first. But until that second line is added, you don't need to change the information at all. So the balance isn't needed until the second line is added."

"So…what do we need to do?" Sheena asked. Celcius looked back at Genis.

"That's even simpler: Genis has to make a pact with Efreet."

Presea stared up at Celcius. "But there's no way Genis could make a pact in this state, much less fight Efreet!"

A few seconds later, Genis sat up slowly in the bed, looking around the room. Presea stared. Celcius had her hand on Genis' shoulder as she explained.

"If I can suppress my ice mana long enough, it should allow Genis to have a short reprieve from the fever. However, he won't be able to use any ice magic until I stop repressing the mana. And I don't know how long I can repress it for, maybe as short as two days."

Genis slipped out of the bed as Celcius slipped away into his body. He took in a deep breath, looking around. Sheena stood up.

"I'll go get the Reihards prepped for flight. Coming Raine?"

The slight hint in the tone was obvious as Raine stood up and followed Sheena out of the room, closing the door behind her. Genis watched them go, then walked to the window of the room. Presea stood just behind him. After a few minutes of silence, Genis spoke.

"I'm sorry Presea…everything seems to be my fault lately…"

"No Genis…it's not all your fault…if I hadn't fallen from my Reihard over Flanoiria in the first place, you wouldn't have had to form the pact with Celcius, and you wouldn't have the scarring from the Slivers, and you wouldn't have imbalanced mana, and…"

Genis had turned and gently put his hand over Presea's mouth to stop the words. "None of that was your fault."

Presea was silent for a few moments, then she carefully wrapped her arms around Genis, hugging him tightly. Genis felt something wet falling onto his nightshirt.

"Genis…I d-don't want you to die…"

Genis hugged Presea back, kissing her cheek.

"I have no intention of dying, Presea."

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And so, barely two hours later, two reihards streaked across the sky over Sylvarant. Genis was seated on the back of Presea's reihard, his arms around Presea's waist, still too weak to pilot his own reihard, but getting steadily better by the minute. On the other reihard, Raine was focused on on mentally rechecking the items she had brought with her, as well as anything that she'd need to get at Triet before they journeyed on to the ruins.

The edge of the desert was just ahead. Presea began to descend the reihard as they passed the desert-grassland border, and a few minutes later, the two flying machines had set down just outside the outer walls of the town of Triet.

Raine dismounted her reihard next to the two teens, as Presea helped Genis down from theirs. They had already planned on having Genis rest, fever-free, for the night before moving on to Efreet's home in the Triet Ruins. Presea was already supporting Genis, heading for the inn.

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A few hours after this, Genis and Presea were sound asleep in one of the warm, comfortable beds at at the Triet Inn.

Raine, meanwhile, was waiting outside. She was currently standing just outside the city limits, looking out at the desert, waiting for the one she would be meeting.

A few seconds later, Celcius walked up next to Raine. She was slightly transparent, but easily indentified.

"They're both asleep now. So, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

Raine turned to Celcius as she spoke. "There is a problem in the plan, which it seems everyone except for Kratos and I has forgotten in the present crisis."

"And that is?"

"That when the Great Tree ravaged Sylvarant, the Triet Ruins sank into a hold in the earth."

Celcius stared at the professor. "They what?!"

"They sank into the earth. The Thoda Geyser where Undine resided was also destroyed, along with the Balucraf Mausoleum-home of the Sylphs-and the Tower of Mana, which was home to Luna and Aska."

Celcius stared out at the sandy wasteland in front of them. "That...could be a problem. I wish I'd known that sooner, I assumed you knew Efreet's location...you see, when a seal is destroyed, the Summon Spirit it resided in often moves to a new location, preferably close by, that compliments it's attributes, creating a new seal there."

Celcius seemed to shiver. Raine watched her. "And what does that mean?"

"Are there any volcanoes around here?"

"Well, there's Mount Dorgan, but-wait, you don't mean..."

"Where else would that blockhead go?"

Raine was silent. _Mount Dorgan? The only active volcano in Sylvarant? __**That's**__ where we have to go?!_

"I get the feeling I should have asked much sooner."

"Damn...no shit. I hate volcanoes." The summon spirit replied. She glared at the desert, and suddenly yelled at it, "**Efreet, you bastard!**"

END OF CHAPTER

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Sorry for the chapter being so much shorter than some others in the past, as I said plot bunnies are low at the moment. But more will be on the way, here and in other categories of story, because while some ToS ideas have been low, other ideas have been exploding like crazy. Stay tuned! ZK


	2. Chapter 2

_Well. Has it really been five years since I started this? A lot has happened and a lot has changed. Including my writing style. I don't have any notes for how I was originally going to take this story, but some recent encouraging comments by a friend on the site have made me decide that it's about damn time I get the ball rolling._

_By now this story is a little out of date since there's been a sequel to ToS (that's right, they made a sequel in the time it took me to get back to this story), but I'm going to plow ahead anyways. For those few of you who stayed subscribed to this story, thanks for your devotion (or just thanks for forgetting to delete it off the list for so many years)!_

_Disclaimer: I still don't own anything having to do with Symphonia, but I still love it to death._

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Chapter 2-Warmth

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When Presea awoke the next morning, she found herself alone in bed, with a conspicuous empty spot next to her where Genis had been the night before. At first she thought it might have something to do with Raine's influence, but then again, the professor seemed to have mellowed somewhat since Kratos had returned. So Presea wrapped a white nightrobe around herself, tying her hair back into a single long tail, and quietly slipped out of the room.

As she walked downstairs to the main common room of the inn, she noted that it was apparently a little earlier than she'd thought; there wasn't anyone else to be seen. Listening closely however, Presea heard a few slight cracks and the sound of something being swished quickly through the air, so she made for the inn door and stepped outside. There in the clearing in front of the inn was Genis, spinning around and directing controlled slashes and jabs of his mithril whip almost as if he'd never been sick at all. He was completely outfitted for a fight as well, Presea noted; his old battle cloak and Rune Cape he'd worn during the final battles at Vinheim Castle still fit him well.

Genis came to a pause in his workout and turned back to look at Presea, the whip circling it's way around his wrist again as he started back towards her.

"Good morning Genis. You're looking much b-" Presea started, but she was cut off by Genis silently scooping her close and kissing her lips softly. She didn't complain one bit, except for a small whine when he eventually slipped out of it again.

Genis, for his part, grinned a bit. "Morning Presea." He looked her over, apparently resisting the urge to wet his lips at the way the nightrobe seemed to flow over her petite form. His eyes stopped on her hair, looking at it curiously, before he said, "I've never seen it tied back like that before."

"Oh…I didn't think about it, I'll fix it into the normal style." Presea replied, reaching a hand back, but Genis stopped her.

"No actually, I think I like it this way more. Makes you look…womanly? I think?"

Presea blushed, before offering a small wry grin of her own. "Well I hope you'd see me that way considering our actions two nights ago."

Genis's cheeks colored at this as well, before he lifted a hand to gently stroke a finger against Presea's cheek, smiling. "Are you complaining about it?"

"Not in the least."

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Once the sun had risen a bit higher in the sky and the rest of the world had woken up and breakfasted, the small group prepared to head out. Raine had apparently had the foresight not to try and cook anything herself, lest they stunt any chance Genis would have. Thankfully, Triet Inn's chefs seemed to know what they were doing and they'd all been heartily fed.

Genis and Raine were prepping the Reihards for flight just outside the city as Presea made her way past the gates, wearing her usual clothes but with a few new additions: her hair was still tied back into a single long tail to her waist rather than the old twin tails, and her old belt had been replaced with a dark red leather belt with two sheathes. Strapped to these on either side were a pair of arm-length silver one-sided axes with shining black blades.

Genis looked up as she approached. "Where did those come from?"

"I commissioned them last night from the local customization shop." Presea replied, drawing one axe out and holding it in front of her, letting the sun gleam off the black edge. "I must accept that we will most likely never find the Gaia Cleaver in the snows of Flanoir, so I had the smiths forge these from raw materials acquired in battle during the Journey of World Regeneration. The handles are white silver; the blades, volcanic obsidian glass."

She put the axe away again as Genis mounted his Reihard, reaching down a hand to pull her up behind him. Once she was seated, he looked over to Raine. "You said we're headed to Mount Dorgan?"

Raine nodded, the only one of the party to be dressed exactly as she'd always been. "It's the closest location with relevance to the element of fire, since the Triet Seal was destroyed."

"Alright then, let's go." Genis kicked the pedals of the Reihard and it smoothly powered up. Within seconds, the two vehicles and their riders had lifted away from the desert city and blasted away for the horizon.

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The thing to remember about the phrase "active volcano", Presea would note to herself later, was that it meant just that.

Mount Dorgan was a relatively recent appearance in the Sylvarant region. Perhaps more accurately, it was an ancient fixture in the region; it had simply not been there while the worlds had been split. With the world returned to it's original form however, the tall and thick mountain stood proud a ways east of the old Triet Ruins, near the edge of the desert itself. Tall, black, and perhaps a little stereotypically ominous, the mountain was most notable for the dozens of red thin lines working their way down it's sides like cracks in glass. As the three riders got closer to the mountain, it became more clear that each of these lines was a stream of magma flowing ceaselessly down the mountain.

Genis pulled the Reihard up as they approached the mountain's surface about midway up. "Let's try the summit first!" He called over the loud rumbles and bursts of steam from the volcanic ground. Raine nodded and both guided their craft steadily up the mountainside, keeping relatively low to it.

After only a few minutes of vertical flight however, the Reihards came to an abrupt stop as a sudden massive wall of lava burst forth from the top of the volcano, plunging downwards towards them.

"Look out!" Raine yelled, steering her Reihard sharply to the side as Genis careened his the opposite way, Presea holding tight to him as they turned. The flying craft just barely cleared out before the fiery mass of molten death sped past, hitting the mountain below with a loud hissing bang.

Genis brought the Reihard around, looking down at the now massive puddle of magma. "That was close. Where on earth did that come from?" Abruptly, the magma began drawing itself up from the pool, slowly flowing up into the air as if alive. Genis and Presea gasped and Genis quickly drew the Reihard back as the magma formed into a massive form at least twenty men tall; toned thick muscles, thick arms with clawed hands, ferociously sharp wings, and a demonic horned head.

A vision of the Summon Spirit of Fire, Efreet.

_**"WHO ENTERS MY DOMAIN?"**_ The avatar demanded, the voice booming outward.

Presea cringed, holding tight to Genis. She was not someone prone to fear, but anyone without at least some fear facing the sight would have been certifiably insane.

Genis on the other hand didn't have that luxury as he yelled out. "I am Genis Arabeus Sage! I formerly traveled with Master of the Pact Sheena Fujibayashi! I have formed a pact with the Summon Spirit of Ice, Celcius! I have need of your power as well, Summon Spirit of Fire!"

The massive image of Efreet seemed to glower at the small-by-comparison half-elf, then it roared back. _**"I NO LONGER HAVE NEED FOR PACTS! WITHIN THIS MOUNTAIN, MY ANCIENT HOME, I HAVE POWER BEYOND ANYTHING THE WORLD HAS SEEN FOR MILLENNIA!"**_

As if in response, the entire volcano seemed to rumble even louder.

_**"IF YOU APPROACH MY SEAL AT THE CENTER OF THIS DOMAIN OF FIRE, YOU WILL APPROACH YOUR DOOM, MORTAL! I GIVE YOU ONE CHANCE, AS A COMPANION OF THE LAST MASTER OF THE PACT, TO LEAVE THIS PLACE!"**_

Genis's eyes narrowed at the towering hulk of lava and fire. "I don't believe you heard me, Lord of Fire Efreet! I have need of your power, and I will have it!"

The avatar of the summon spirit roared again in response, then sank away, the magma forming it splashing back to the volcano's surface with a last loud burst. _**"THEN BURN TO ASHES!"**_

And Mount Dorgan erupted.

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Yes, I know, evil cliffy. No worries, it certainly won't be another five years before the next chapter - I intend to pump these out and have it finished within days, if that long. Sorry if the writing style takes getting used to - bear in mind, at this point I'm making it up as I go!

Signing off for now! Leave a review at the door please!

_~ZK_


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